Today witnesses the beginning of the latest in a string of battles in the Atlanta Campaign, a battle that the Confederacy has long feared: the Battle of Atlanta. While this clash does not result in Union control of Atlanta, a decisive Union victory signals that the dreaded Northern hordes are at the gate.
Confederate General John Bell Hood’s actions trigger the battle this day. Unnerved by the Union victory, two days earlier, in the Battle of Peach Tree Creek (or Peachtree Creek), Hood makes a bold move in an attempt to entice Union forces into a trap. The battle unfolds as a Confederate offensive against Union forces on both the front lines and against the Union rear lines, east of Atlanta.
The plan, however, is not executed in a timely fashion as Union reserves encounter a contingent of Confederate forces before the rebels are fully positioned. Once engaged, the dual-front battle continues through much of the day. Although the Confederates at one point manage to break though the Union front line, extra artillery is turned against the rebels, halting the surge and helping restore the Union line.
Emerging victorious in this one-day conflict, the Union instills significant losses upon the enemy. The 8,500 casualties suffered by the Confederates represent a major blow to the badly-outnumbered defenders of Atlanta. Union casualties are only about 3,600. But among the Union dead is Major General James B. McPherson, a significant loss to the U.S. Army of the Tennessee.
Union General William T. Sherman, not quite prepared to make a final thrust upon Atlanta, afterwards settles into a siege of the city.
Meanwhile, Colonel Aaron Brown of Company F., 3rd Iowa Infantry United States, having fought in numerous battles earlier in the war and thus far in the Atlanta Campaign, turns in his rifle this day and musters out of military service.
Brown (1822-1904) is a Baptist layman and Mississippi native. His parental lineage includes slave owners and abolitionists, and at three years of age his parents moved to Ohio, where a young Aaron grew up. In the late 1840s Brown headed West to seek his fortune in California. Returning East after three years in California, during which time he mined and practiced medicine, Brown settled in Fayette County, Iowa in 1852. There, Brown bought a farm and established a medical practice. In 1856 the former Southerner was elected for a four-year term in the state Senate, after which he enlisted in the United States Army in 1861 to fight the Rebellion.
Now, having mustered out of service, Brown begins the journey back to his Northern home and family. Resuming farming, in 1866 Brown is again elected into public service as Representative to the state legislature, remaining in elected service for the next six years.
Sources: Battle of Atlanta (link) and (link); Aaron Brown papers, Iowa Legislature, including image (link)
